13/2 BBC: Caught in the Act

On February 11, the London Independent headlined, “BBC to issue global apology for documentaries that broke rules,” saying:

“….(P)rograms were made by third-party in pay of governments and firms.”

In other words, they were propaganda, not legitimate news and information. More on the scandal below.

Throughout its history, BBC’s been an imperial tool. It replicates the worst of America’s major media, its NPR/PBS managed news operations, and Qatar controlled Al Jazeera on major world and national issues.

Reliability’s not its mandate. Owned, operated and controlled by Britain, government officials appoint its management. Nothing fundamentally changed from 1922 inception to today. Only technology’s different, not BBC’s state controlled message.

It’s pro-government, pro-imperial, pro-war, pro-Israel, pro-corporate, and anti-populist. Deception triumphs over truth. Step over the line and get fired.

In other words, fake information, in league with Washington, promoted war on Iraq. Exposing it got Gilligan and top management axed. New bosses replaced former ones. Seamlessly it was back to business as usual, producing propaganda instead of truth and full disclosure.

In March 2011, the London Guardian headlined, “BBC World Service to sign funding deal with US State Department,” saying:

BBC will “receive a ‘significant’ sum of money from the US government to help (circumvent) the blocking of TV and internet services in countries including Iran and China,” as well as develop early warning software to more easily detect jamming.

At the time, BBC’s Jim Egan said software would help “monitor dips in traffic which act as an early warning of jamming, and can be more effective than relying on people contacting us and telling us they cannot access the services.”

Proxy servers are also used to misdirect web site blockers to countries other than where broadcasts emanate.

“The minute you actually start taking the money, there is bound to be a certain element of ‘he who pays the piper calls the tune.’ It is a strange arrangement, and I would worry that the more complicated we make (BBC), the less pure its message can be.”

Of course, BBC’s tainted and disreputable, not pure. Its state controlled message serves wealth and power. EU Parliament member Gerard Batten once called it “institutionally politically biased, certainly in favour of things like the European Union, mass immigration, and a whole other ‘politically correct’ ideas that I think it peddles to the public.”

He added that the “sponsorship of any news and current affairs TV programs (is prohibited) across the EU. Now it would appear then, that if the US State Department is going to fund BBC that would appear to be in breach of the directive.”

BBC’s Latest Scandal

A London Independent investigation learned how BBC’s paid nominal fees of as little as one British pound for programming produced by Britain’s FactBased Communications (FBC Media).

It calls itself “a European-based media and entertainment group specializing in television format creation, production and distribution.”

Its activities include “current affairs content for television and airlines plus original TV format creation and quality production for the UK and international television markets in the business, economy, entertainment, sport and factual genres, as well as FBC’s international sales, sponsorship and distribution of syndicated programmes.”

FBC’s run by former Financial Times correspondent Alan Friedman and former CNN reporter John Defterios until he resigned. Its services include government and corporate propaganda.

Its clients are featured in programs made for CNBC, India, Greece, Kazakhstan, Italy, Zambia, Indonesia, Hungary, and corporations like Microsoft. Its promotional literature says it “cultivate(s)” key opinion makers, the types showing up on major media TV. It boasted that its:

“clients include heads of state, governments and ministries, special economic zones and property projects, companies and international organizations.”

It produced eight Malaysia propaganda pieces for BBC without mention of being paid 17 million pounds by its government for “global strategic communications.” Material portrayed Malaysia’s controversial palm oil industry favorably.

BBC also aired FBC’s documentary about Egypt’s 2011 uprising produced by former dictator Hosni Mubarak. BBC Trust’s Editorial Standards Committee discovered 15 World Service editorial breaches. Eight were about Malaysia. Others were on violating sponsorship rules.

As a result, on February 11, BBC apologized on air to millions of viewers. The Independent called it a “remarkable broadcast, available in 295 million homes, 1.7 million hotel rooms, 81 cruise ships, 46 airlines, and on 35 mobile phone platforms,” as well as anyone worldwide online.

Given BBC’s longstanding government controlled mandate, it apologized tongue in cheek for breaking “rules aimed at protecting our editorial integrity.” In fact, it got caught with its pants down.

Later she disingenuously claimed she didn’t “remember minute-by-minute what she saw.” Of course, neither she or BBC could explain how an event was reported before it occurred. BBC knew in advance, but erred by informing viewers too early.

The Independent concluded its report, saying:

It “kept strict divisions between (FBC’s) editorial and PR operations. Still operating in Europe and India, FBC closed its London offices and went into administration (last) October. Broadcasting regulator Ofcom is investigating” its operations.

Administrator Hillier Hopkins Corporate Recovery’s David Butler said:

It’s “working on establishing the extent of the company’s assets (to) maximize any potential return to the ex-employees and other creditors. As with any insolvency, the circumstances surrounding and the reasons for they company’s failure will be fully investigated in due course.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. Also visit his blog and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US

Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening. He is also the author of “How Wall Street Fleeces America“

The Progressive News Hour

Guest: Bob Chapman

For over 50 years, Bob Chapman has written on business, economics and politics, now doing it twice weekly as owner and editor of the International Forecaster. It’s a vital resource for information ignored by the mainstream.

2 responses to “13/2 BBC: Caught in the Act”

Soldat
February 13, 2012 – 9:06 pm
The “Cassandra Complex” is the reason for Americas delusional thinking, we’ve been force fed so much propaganda that even when one can prove without a shadow of doubt that the popular narrative is false the average American still won’t believe the facts – we’re a nation which is suffering from Zionist induced Stockholm Syndrome.

It’s pretty obvious who is responsible for the diet of disinformation Americans are fed, the media in the U.S. is completely controlled by the Jews. The Zionists have inserted their sick concepts of money and power into every profession that matters in the U.S. – we are a puppet nation

Robert Iger – major owner of Walt Disney, Capital Cities, and ABC. Disney owns cable TV networks such as Disney Channel, ESPN, A&E TV Network, ABC Family, as well as many other entertainment venues.

Allan Braverman is executive vice president and general counsel of Walt Disney
Company.

Ben Sherwood is president of ABC News.

FOX:

Rupert Murdoch (Jewish mother, hence legally Jewish) is owner of FOX TV, New York Post, London Times, and News of the World.

Joel Klein, ex-chancellor of New York Department of Education, was appointed by Murdoch to clean up the news corporation’s hacking image.

CNN:

Wolf Blitzer is host of CNN’s “The Situation Room.”

HOLLYWOOD MOVIE STUDIOS

The prestigious Encyclopedia Judaica, in its article “Motion Pictures,” pg. 449, says: “Thus all the large Hollywood companies, with the exception of United Artists…were founded and controlled by Jews.”

The following, from the 2002 Judaism Online article, though largely outdated, I have left unrevised because of the general picture it presents.

Samuel Newhouse Jr. and Donald Newhouse own Newhouse Publications, which includes 26 newspapers in 22 cities. The Conde Nast Magazine Group includes the New Yorker, Parade, the Sunday newspaper supplements, American City Business Journal, business newspapers published in more than 30 major cities in America, and interests in cable television programming and cable systems serving one million homes.

Wall Street Journal: Peter R. Kahn, CEO

New York Times, Boston Globe, and other publications: published by Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr.

New York Daily News: Mortimer Zuckerman, owner

Village Voice, New Times and network of alternative weeklies: Owned by David Schneiderman

Norman Ornstein, American Enterprise Institute – regular columnist for USA Today, news analyst for CBS and co-chair with Leslie Moonves of the Advisory Committee on Public Interest Obligation of Digital TV Producers, appointed by Clinton.